From time to time, we browse recently released Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports and highlight those with potential interest to our readers. This week’s release was so extensive we’ve organized documents into broad categories.

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This week, Ecology Today @ ecology.com is pleased to present a two-part video featuring psychologist Dan Gilbert, Harvard Professor and author of Stumbling on Happiness. Speaking at this year’s Pop!Tech conference, Mr. Gilbert explores the psychology behind human reaction to threats — and how our brains are inherently unsuited to deal with global warming.

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Guillemots are a bird that can be found around the world. They are fishers and breed in colonies nestled among sea rocks and cliffs.
Some of those colonies have turned into killing grounds as the birds attempt to find a way to deal with their collapsing food supply.

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Thinking green leads to new innovations in our home and city building.
Well, the green news today starts off white as in this headline from an article in the Los Angeles Times: “To slow global warming, install white roofs.” Such roofs and reflective pavement in the world’s 100 largest cities would have a massive cooling effect, [...]

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According to the recently published book, “Green to Gold,” by Daniel C. Esty and Andrew Winston, the top ten environmental issues facing the world today are:
1. Climate Change
2. Energy
3. Water
4. Biodiversity and Land Use
5. Chemicals, Toxics and Heavy Metals
6. Air Pollution
7. Waste Management
8. Ozone Layer Depletion
9. Oceans and Fisheries
10. Deforestation

These issues clearly cut across and [...]

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The image of Canada’s great Arctic expanses covered with snow and ice and stretching for thousands of kilometers into the distance is changing, or rather melting.
Canadian scientists are reporting with some alarm the break up of some Canada’s largest ice shelves.
In August the Markham Ice Shelf, a 50 kilometer square area of fresh water ice, [...]

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Compared to previous years, hurricane activity in the Atlantic has been relatively quiet, although the Gulf of Mexico has had a busy hurricane and tropical storm season so far. We are just now entering the most active part of the hurricane season, a period which officially ends on November 30.
Global warming, which has accounted for [...]

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This enhanced satellite image shows the current extent of the Arctic Ice Cap (August 25, 2008). It is now 220,000 square miles larger than 2007’s lowest extent which was the smallest the ice cap had ever reached. (Image: National Snow and Ice Data Center)

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Science is an art of exploration. The dedication of the explorers is sometimes directed by other discoveries, a chance encounter or simply just the pure serendipity of a crazy idea.
The effects of global warming started to be a concern for scientists during the early 1960s. Acid rain was the environmental issue of the day and [...]

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Tourists had to be evacuated by helicopter from one of Canada’s major Arctic parks as abnormal temperatures caused severe flooding, washing away hiking trails and a bridge.
“We lost huge proportions of what was formerly the trail in the park. It’s disappeared -  gone,” said Pauline Scott, speaking for Parks Canada.

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Not only is the Arctic ice cap shrinking, it is shrinking at a pace that places its disappearance two to three decades ahead of the gloomiest previous forecasts.
It is now generally predicted that the Arctic ice cap will totally disappear in 20 - 25 years, leaving the Arctic Ocean totally free of summer ice as [...]

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The world’s wetlands are in danger and if they are damaged further they could release a “carbon bomb” which could greatly affect Global Warming conditions.
Wetlands are natural carbon traps that contain the same amount of carbon that is currently in the earth’s atmosphere, in all they contain a fifth of the world’s carbon.

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